Joshua Schafer is Vice President, Oncology Global Marketing Strategy at Astellas Pharmaceuticals, which a global top 20 pharmaceutical company. In his current role Mr. Schafer is responsible for global strategy and commercial leadership for Astellas Pharmaceuticals’ oncology portfolio with revenues of approximately $1.5B. Most recently he led the global launch of Xtandi for prostate cancer. He is a member of the Oncology Leadership team responsible for long term strategic planning, portfolio asset prioritization, development planning, and investment decisions including licensing and acquisitions. He was instrumental in the company’s $4B acquisition of OSI Pharmaceuticals, as well as the in-licensing and commercialization of Xtandi (Medivation), tivozanob (AVEO Oncology), and Tarceva (Roche/Genentech).

Previously, Mr. Schafer was Director of Specialty Marketing at Takeda Pharmaceuticals where he was responsible for providing commercial leadership for Takeda’s oncology and renal pipeline, and served a pivotal role in the $9B acquisition of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. He held a variety of roles including New Product Development, Business Development and Marketing. Prior to working at Takeda Mr. Schafer held positions within global medical affairs at Searle (now Pfizer). He started his career in management consulting, with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).

Mr. Schafer holds a MSc and an MBA from Northwestern University and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. He was named one of Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40 for 2010 and an Emerging Pharmaceutical Leader by Pharmaceutical Executive in 2013. Mr. Schafer is active in the Chicago business community and is a member of Chicago Innovation Mentors, a joint program between Northwestern University, University of Chicago and University of Illinois to stimulate innovation in the Chicago area.